The Fob Watch
by Fnuggi
Summary: One of the members of the Atlantis expedition has a secret. She just doesn't know it. Main pairing is Fem!Doctor/Carson Beckett.


**A/N:** This story is AU on Doctor Who's part and the timeline for Stargate: Atlantis is set at some point in season 2.

o0o

_Mary could feel the pain of the people on the planet below her as if it was her own. The planet and it's inhabitants cried out in pain as it burned, and Mary wished with all her heart that there was something she could do to help them._

_But she knew that there was nothing she could do._

_She didn't even know the name of the planet, so how would she ever be able to help them?_

_No, that wasn't true. She did know the planet below, she just couldn't remember its name. But somehow, for some strange, unfanthomable reason, it felt like she knew it, even though she could have sworn she had never, ever seen it before._

_Mary cried out as another wave of pain rushed through her. It was too much. She couldn't bear it. The pain of the people on the planet below her made her want to curl into a ball and cry, or even better, to die._

_Yet another wave of pain hit her like a ton of bricks, and Mary once again screamed at the top of her lungs._

_She wanted desperately to help the people on the planet below, but before she could do anything, she was falling into the darkness._

o0o

Mary-Anne Watson startled awake, her heart pounding wildly in her chest. It took her several long minutes to realize that it had just been a dream, a nightmare and that she was safe in her quarters in Atlantis.. _No, it wasn't just any nightmare _she silently corrected herself. _It was the nightmare_.

It was the fifth night in a row she had dreamed about the strange copper colored planet and it was the fifth night she had woken up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat and screaming because of it.

However, two of the five times she had dreamed about the burning planet, there had also been a voice that seemed so familiar to her. It was as if it was a comfort to her in the middle of all the pain that she had been feeling, but she just couldn't remember where she had heard it before.

Then, her eyes were drawn to something lying on her nightstand next to her bed. It was a watch. She had had it for as long as she could remember, and she had no idea where she had gotten it from. It could be from some distant relative, but in truth, she didn't know.

It had just always been there.

She picked it up, runnign her thumb over the lid. The intricate design on the lid were beautiful and Mary found it frustrating that she could not remember where she had gotten it from.

She wanted to open it, so see what it looked like on the inside, but something stopped her.

It was a voice. whispering to her.

_No, you must not open it. The time is not yet right for you to open the watch._

With one last look at the watch and a sigh, Mary put it back down on her nightstand again and rolled over, determined to go back to sleep.

However, sleep kept eluding her and after about thirty minutes of staring into the darkness of her room, she decided to go to the infirmery to get something to help her sleep. She knew that it was her boyfriend, Carson Beckett, who had the night shift today, because he wasn't in bed with her, and she was sure that he wouldn't mind the visit.

o0o

The infirmary was eerily quiet as Mary walked through the doors. The few patients currently there were all fast asleep and she was thankful for that. After five nights of ruined sleep, she was sure she looked like hell, and the fact that people had commented on it earlier that day had not made it better.

She didn't need or want to hear any more comments about her looks.

She could feel a smile tug at the corner of her lips at the sight that met her. Carson was standing next to the bed of one of his patients, checking the IV drop. Mary waited for him to finish his work as she wasn't sure he had heard her come into the room.

She didn't want to risk startling him while he was working, even if he was only checking an IV drop.

"Mary, what are you doing up so late lass?" Carson's bright blue eyes were wide with worry.

"Had a nightmare and couldn't asleep again" She replied, internally debating on how much she should tell him.

Carson could sense that something was wrong with Mary, so he motioned for her to follow him into his office.

"You want to talk about it?" He asked, looking at her.

She swallowed and nodded.

"I've been having this dream, or rather nightmare, for the past five days" This bit of information didn't surprise Carson. He had noticed the dark circles under her eyes as soon as she walked into the infirmery, and they had been a part of the reason why he was so wiorried about her.

"I'm in space, watching this planet. For some strange reason, the planet feels familiar to me, even though I'm completely sure I've never seen it before in my life" Mary paused, biting her lip nervously.

Carson just waited patiently for her to continue.

"But that's not all. The planet is under attack from some kind of alien, and-" paused again, raising her hand to wipe the tears that had started falling from her cheeks. "-and I can feel their pain as if it's my own. I feel them crying out, begging me to help them, but there's nothing I can do. I really want to help them, but I don't know how to" she finished, not even trying to wipe the tears from her cheeks this time.

Before she knew it, she felt a pair of strong arms around her. She was eternally grateful for Carson's support, and for the fact that he was always for there when she needed him, whether she needed him to be a listening post or for something else.

"It was just a dream. You're safe here in Atlantis with me and everyone else" His voice resonated in his chest as he spoke and Mary really wished with all her heart that she could believe him.

The only problem was, that she couldn't.

"No, it wasn't just a dream" she began, placing her hands on his chest. "I can't tell you exactly what it was, but it was too real to be just a dream" She leaned against him again, as more tears started falling from her eyes.

Carson wasn't sure what to say to her, so he merely held her, hoping that it would be enough to comfort her.

When she had finally stopped crying, he let go of her and walked over to where he kept some of the stronger medicines and picked up a pill bottle.

"Here, take these pills before you go to sleep. They will help ye get a good nights sleep" He said, handing her two white pills.

"What are they?" Mary asked, looking at the pills in her hand.

"Sleeping pills" he replied and then added: "You look like you need them"

"Geez, thanks Carson, just what a girl likes to hear" Mary said jokingly. The smile that she got in return for the comment was enough to make all the nightmares in the universe melt away.

"Any time love, any time" Carson replied, the smile still in place as he gave his girlfriend another hug.

o0o

Everything was crazy on Atlantis.

The city had just recieved news that four wraith hive ships were headed directly for them, which had taken them completely by surprise as there had been no indications that the wraith would attack any time soon.

She wanted to go to the infirmery to make sure that Carson was okay, but she knew that he would be busy prepping the infirmery for the injured soldiers that would without a doubt be taking up the beds soon enough, so she stayed away.

Once again, her attention was drawn to the watch on her nightstand.

It had been three days since she had last held it in her hands. Thanks to the sleeping pills Crson had given her, she had been able to sleep without being disturbed by the nightmares, but the images still haunted her.

Later, she would have no memory of what had prompted her to do it, but she picked up the watch again and ran her finger over it.

Then she opened it.

She had no idea what she had been expecting when she opened the watch, but the only thing she would remember later would bet hat as soon as she opened the watch, there was a bright light, and then there was nothing.

o0o

Carson Beckett had seen many things in his time as doctor, but this was by far the strangest.

A few short hours ago, he had found his girlfriend in her quarters, unconcious, so he had called for a medical team and rushed her to the infirmery. He wished he could have gotten to her earlier, but he had been so busy tending to the soldiers who had been injured in the wraith attack that he had not noticed until much later that she was missing.

It was another late night in the infirmery, but thankfully, all the patients ocupying the beds were fast asleep, so he had time to go over the results of Mary's x-rays, which were the source of his bewilderment.

They had done the x-rays because Beckett had wanted to make sure that there was no internal bleeding, but he had found something completely unexpected.

Apparently, his girlfriend had two hearts.

Just then, Elizabeth walked into the room.

"What have you got, Carson?" Elizabeth asked, her voice laced with worry. As Carson's girlfriend, Mary had become a part of the surrogate family that was the senior staff, which was evident from all the people sitting around her hospital bed in the room right next door.

"A bloody mystery, that's fer sure" The Scottish doctor replied, gesturing to the x-rays.

"What do you mean?" Elizabeth asked, raising an eyebrow at her CMO. Carson didn't say anything, but merely picked up one of the x-rays and handed it to her.

After looking at the x-ray for a few moments, Elizabeth's eyes widened and she turned her attention back to her CMO.

"But this can't be right. There has to be some kind of mistake. No one has two hearts" she said,

"Aye, that was my reaction too when I first saw the x-rays, but they're all showing the same thing: two hearts" he replied, running a hand over his face.

Elizabeth had no idea what to say, but just the none of the nurses walked into the room. "Doctor Beckett, she's waking up" she said and Carson nodded, the note of alarm in the nurse's voice

"Is she alright?" He asked, looking at her. The Nurse hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"I'm… not sure"

o0o

_She was dreaming again, she knew it, but this dream was different than the one that had been haunting her at night._

_The white mist on the ground moved in lazy swirls as she started walking, not sure where she was going, but she stopped moving when she spotted someone familiar to her up ahead._

_It was her parents._

_She could have sworn she had never seen the two people before, but somehow she just knew that they were her parents._

"_Mom, dad" she called out, but they didn't seem to hear her, so she started running towards them. However, when she got to where they were supposed to be, the misty figures dissolved into nothingness._

_Mary had not been aware that she had been crying until she felt the warm sensation of the tears streaming down her cheeks._

_She remembered now. Those dreams that she thought was just dreams weren't dreams at all. They were memories. Memories of the last great time war and the destruction of her home planet Gallifrey._

_She remembered that she was the only one who had survived, making her the only Timelord in existence. Everyone she had known was gone: her parents, her friends from the Academy and most importantly: him._

_The man that had once meant the world to her. Euryn._

_She could feel her heart aching in her chest as she spotted the very same figure standing close to where her parents had stood._

"_Why did you abandon us?"_

_The words he had spoken made her feel like she had been stabbed in the chest, and she had no idea what to say._

_The misty figure started dissolving into nothingness, leaving only a whisper behind._

"_Why did you leave?"_

"_I'm sorry, I'm so sorry - please forgive me" She said quietly._

o0o

As soon as he had gotten to Mary's bed, Carson had checked her vitals. The way the nurse had hesitated when he asked her if Mary was alright had made him very worried, but thankfully, everything seemed to be as it should be.

Well, everything except for two things.

Carson could see his girlfriends' eyes flickering madly behind closed eyelids, indicating that she was having some sort of nightmare and she was crying.

The tears streamed down her cheeks, and it the sight of it broke Carson's heart so he reached for her hand.

"Mary, love, wake up" At the sound of his voice, Mary's eyes flew open.

For a long moment, she just stared at the people around her bed with wide eyes, not sure who they were, but then she remembered.

"Carson, those dreams I told you about, you remember them, right?" she asked, her voice shaking. He nodded.

"They weren't dreams, they were memories" Now Carson was really confused.

"What do you mean, love?" He asked. He guessed that if he felt confused by this statement, the other people surrounding the bed would be even more so as they knew nothing of Mary's dreams.

"I'm- I'm not who you think I am" Mary's voice was shaky as she spoke. "My name's not Mary-Anne Watson"

"I don't get it. Doctor Watson had a family back on Earth, so how can you not be her?" The skepticism in McKay's voice was audible as he spoke.

"No, she didn't. It was just a part of the cover I created when I became human" The doctor replied as if it was the most natural thing in the universe.

"What do you mean, became human?" McKay shot back.

"It's a long story" The Doctor replied, trying to avoid the topic. She knew that it would be hard, seeing as she would be staying here for at least a few days while she recovered, but one could always hope, right?

"Take all the time ye need love" The Doctor send Carson a grateful smile after he'd spoken, and then she began to tell her story.

o0o

The twin suns were shining from a clear, blue sky as Carson stood on the eastern pier of Atlantis. However, despite the beautiful weather, Carson was not a happy man.

He had tried everything in his power to convince Mary - or The Doctor as she had told him to call her - to stay, but so far he'd had no luck. However, that was not going to stop him from trying one last time.

"You don't have to leave. I'm sure Elizabeth and everyone else would be more than happy to let you stay" He said.

"I already told you why I can't stay. And besides, you don't need me here" She replied, trying to keep the sadness out of her voice.

Carson was just about to say something when she interupted him.

"No, don't. You were doing just fine before I came here, and you will continue to do so after I leave" Her voice was quiet as she spoke and it broke Carson's heart to hear her sound so defeated.

"Will I ever see you again?" He asked.

The right corner of her lips turned upwards into a small smile. "Depends on how much trouble you get yourself into"

He smiled back at her. "I'll miss you"

"I'll miss you too" She replied, the smile now gone from her face.

After a few moments of quiet, she spoke again. "I should probably get going. Goodbye Carson" with that, she turned and started walking towards the Deadalus and soon she had disappeared inside the ship.

Carson stayed where he was, watching as the ship left Atlantis. Then, when he couldn't see the Deadalus anymore, he started walking back to his quarters.

o0o

Three days had passed since she had left, and Carson had spend most of that time working. He knew that he was working far too hard and that h eshould stop and take a break, but he couldn't do it.

Ever time he didn't have work to occupy himself with, his thoughts would be about her, and it drove him mad. He had really thought that she was the one he was going to spend the rest of his life with, but that was not to be, and now he felt guilty for not trying harder to get her to stay.

The infirmary was, for once, quiet, and that was why Carson was in his office, working on some of the paperwork that he had been putting off for weeks. However, it was not nearly enough to stop his mind from wandering, so he was happy when Teyla and John walked into his office.

"Colonel, Teyla, are you alright?" He asked, concerned. All thoughts about The Doctor and the paperwork he was supposed to be working on had been abandoned for the time being.

"We are both fine Doctor Beckett. People are starting to worry about you, so we came to see how you are doing" Teyla said.

"I'm doing fine, all things considered" Carson replied.

"Are you sure? Because I asked around, and it turns out you have been up here working almost non-stop for the past three days" This time it was John who spoke.

Carson sighed and looked at the other man. "It's the only thing I can do to keep my mind from wandering back to her." All three of them knew who he was refering to. "I really thought that she was the one I was going to spend the rest of my life with. Turns out I was wrong"

"I know just what you need to take your mind off of things: a movie night" John said, grinning.

Carson smiled back at the other man. Yes, a movie night did indeed sound good right now, and it might be just what he needed to take his mind off of things. With that, he got up and followed Teyla and John out of the infirmary.

No, he was still not alright, but the movie night would be a step in the right direction.

o0o

**A/N:** Okay, so this is it. I'm really not at all sure how I feel about this, so I'd love to hear what you think about it. I do have an idea for a sequel to this story, but I'm not sure whether I'll write it or not.


End file.
